


Braids and Bonds

by Anonymous



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Mentioned Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Piglin Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings (Video Blogging RPF), Winged Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29651298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: When Tommy asked Phil to teach him how to braid, a bit sheepish and unsure of himself, he said yes without hesitation. Tommy claimed it was so he could impress girls by “being all sentimental and shit”, but Phil didn’t buy it. Not that he really cared about the reason (though he assumed it was because he never got to learn from Techno before he left for college), he just pulled up a chair and began guiding Tommy through the process, step by step
Relationships: TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 70
Collections: anonymous





	Braids and Bonds

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous asked:
> 
> For your fluffy Dadza and Tommy idea needs: Maybe Dadza teaching Tommy how to braid? Tommy might not always get it right, but Phil thinks it's worth a few knots if it makes his kiddo happy ( hope this was helpful/made you smile! Love your work ^^)
> 
> TY so much anon I didn't know how much I needed this in my life 🥺
> 
> —
> 
> All the angst I write/read has kinda been bringing me down because my sleep schedule is a Lil funky rn, so I asked for some idea's/pormpts for Tommy and Dadza Fluff. Got this in the ol' ask box and started writing (this took me all day, idk when I started but it's 12 am now). I'm still up for suggestions, send me an ask on [Tumblr](https://sbiminustubbo.tumblr.com/)

There’s a murmur from behind him. “Now is it over or under...”

“It’s over, Tommy,” Phil says with a patient smile.

Tommy lets out a low growl of frustration. “Just testing,” he pouts.

“Sure thing, Mate.”

Phil watches his son through the mirror, a determined look on his face as he cards his fingers through his father’s blonde, shoulder-length hair. Sectioning it into three thick locks, he slowly attempts to fold them over each other, twisting them together into a braid. He couldn’t quite grasp how to hold his hands though, and kept dropping the locks or wrapped them in the wrong order.

They’d been at this for about half an hour, Tommy giving up and starting over more times than Phil could count, growing more frustrated each time he messed up. He wasn’t one for patience, and despite a constant reminder from Phil, he was still upset he hadn’t mastered it right away. And, Tommy being Tommy, was trying to speed run the process by doing it over and over without actually learning from his mistakes.

Practice made perfect, after all.

_It takes time to learn a new skill_ , he told him. _You can’t rush through things, it’ll only slow you down._ Tommy wasn’t having any of it and shot a handful of empty and sarcastic insults his way in retaliation for his remarks.

He was so stubborn and hardheaded — of course, he was, he learned it from his father. Once he put his mind to something, he wouldn’t stop until he finished what he set out to accomplish. But Phil was still more than happy to sit and wait for however long it took until Tommy was happy with the result. It wasn’t like he had anywhere to be or anyone to impress.

Besides, he was rather enjoying himself.

When Tommy asked Phil to teach him how to braid, a bit sheepish and unsure of himself, he said yes without hesitation. Tommy claimed it was so he could impress girls by “ _being all sentimental and shit_ ”, but Phil didn’t buy it. Not that he really cared about the reason (though he assumed it was because he never got to learn from Techno before he left for college), he just pulled up a chair and began guiding Tommy through the process, step by step

Phil wasn’t sure what he expected when Tommy took his hair in his hands, but he was surprised by how gentle he was. His actions were so small and delicate, Phil didn’t realize he was following along with his directions until Tommy asked him to slow down. He really shouldn’t have been so shocked. Tommy had practiced preening his feathers for years by this point — though admittedly it’s been some time since he’d done it.

It’s been a while since he’s done anything like that, actually. Tommy’s a teenager, that difficult age where he started viewing displays of affection as embarrassing and would avoid physical contact. The last time Phil had hugged him, Tommy hadn’t gone more than a few seconds without some sarcastic remark about his wings smothering him, before scurrying away.

So it was nice that Tommy had come to _him_ and asked for help. Allowed Phil to spend time with him, doing something so simple and yet so meaningful all at once. He didn’t know what thoughts were going on inside Tommy’s head, if he even thought of this as a bonding moment or not. But to Phil, it meant the world.

He’s called back to reality by the sound of a hair-tie snapping around the end of his hair. “Alright, There,” Tommy says with apprehension. “I think I’m done?”

Phil opens his eyes to admire his son’s handy work. He can’t see the braid without another mirror, but it looks pretty okay from the front. There are a few stray hairs and it’s way too loose, but not bad.

Sure enough, when he grabs the hand mirror off the vanity and angles it behind his head to get a good view, the braid is in shambles. Well, maybe _shambles_ was too harsh, but it certainly wasn’t held together very well. It looked decent enough, and Tommy had done the pattern mostly correct, but it would come apart the moment he moved his head.

Phil looks at Tommy through the mirror, and bursts out laughing before he gets the chance to give him any valuable feedback.

Tommy glares at him, but it’s greatly overshadowed by the embarrassment of his slowly reddening face. “What?! What did I do wrong?” he demanded.

Phil shakes his head “Nothing! Sorry, sorry, I’m not laughing at—” he gestures to the braid. “Why did you look so nervous? You were like a deer in headlights.”

Tommy crosses his arms defensively and looks away. “I dunno! I’ve never done this before, what if I tied your hair in a knot or some shit?”

“You would have to actually _try_ to mess up that badly, Tommy,” Phil reassures him, but Tommy doesn’t look very convinced.

“Well, it’s pretty good for your first time,” Phil continues, carefully draping the braid over his shoulder so he could examine it in the mirror in front of him. “The pattern looks alright and it’s a proper braid — it’s just too loose.” He pulls out the hair tie and lets the braid fall apart on its own. “You need to hold all three pieces. You can’t drop one to focus on the other two.”

Tommy groans dramatically, throwing his head back. “God damn it— your hair isn’t even that thick, why is this so difficult,” he exclaims, exasperated.

Phil hums, straightening his hair by combing through it with his fingers. If Tommy was struggling, they may have started with a bit more than he could handle. Phil could barely braid three pieces of string together when he first learned, and it was _much_ harder dealing with actual hair. Especially on someone else’s head (and you were afraid of hurting them).

“Tell you what; let’s try something easier.” Phil expects Tommy to argue, but he doesn’t. Wow, he must be really frustrated.

Grabbing a comb from the vanity drawer, Phil sections off a small selection of hair on the left side of his head. He combs through it to make it as smooth as possible for Tommy and tossed the rest of his hair over his shoulder out of the way. He urges Tommy to his side.

“Try making a couple of braids out of this section,” Phil says. “Once you get used to the hand movements, you can try the bigger braid again.”

After that, Tommy picked it up pretty quickly. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he had a significantly easier time now. The braids were tighter and held together on their own.

Tommy eventually moved past the initial section of hair Phil had given him. He slowly worked his way around Phil’s head, sprinkling in little braids unevenly in random patches of hair. Some were bundled close together, while others were miles apart, leaving large areas of his hair barren. They were so lost in conversation, neither of them noticed how carried away he had gotten until he was standing on the opposite side of Phil he started at.

Phil stares at himself in the mirror, fiddling with one of the braids. He wasn’t so sure about the new hairstyle. He found it somewhere in between hilarious and horrifying. Honestly, his hair looked more like a rat’s nest than when they started.

Tommy laughs. “Oh my god, you look like shit,” he snickers.

Phil didn’t disagree, but he couldn’t help but smile with pride at his son’s handy work. “I dunno,” he says. “I kind of like it.”

Tommy’s smile fades at the knowing look in his father’s eyes. “ _Please_ tell me you’re not going to wear your hair like that the rest of the day...”

“I might,” he teases. “I’ve been meaning to change up my look. I was gonna cut it, but now...” Phil pauses, letting the words sink in. “Actually, I think I have some errands to run—”

“Phiiiiil,” Tommy groans. “Don’t go out like that, you’re gonna embarrass me!”

Phil gasps as if he were wounded, a shit-eating grin giving away the facade. “ _I would never,”_ he laughs.

Tommy pelts a hair tie at his head.

—

Phil removed a majority of the braids to appease Tommy (mainly the ones clumped next to each other) but keeps a handful sprinkled throughout his hair. He mostly did it to annoy him (he’s his father, it’s in his job description), but the longer they stayed in, the more he genuinely wanted to keep them.

Whenever they came undone, like when the ties fell out during flight or he had to wash his hair, Phil asked Tommy to re-do them. Of course, he could do it himself, but then it wouldn’t be as special. And while Tommy pretended to be annoyed by the request, Phil knew he secretly loved it too. The number of times he felt his son absentmindedly fiddle with his hair from the back of the couch when he wasn’t paying attention told him otherwise.

In truth, Phil wasn’t a fan of keeping his hair long. But he decided to leave it shoulder-length, only giving himself a trim whenever his dead ends started to show. It made him look like a hippy, and was a hassle to take care of. It knotted and matted no matter how often he combed it and stayed damp far longer than when he had it short.

But it was worth dealing with a few knots if it made Tommy happy. Afterall—

_“When did you start growing your hair out?” Techno asked when he came home for the holidays several months later._

_Phil takes a hand away from the meal he’d been preparing on the stove, rubbing a plait between his fingers absentmindedly. He smiles. “Since Tommy started braiding it.”_

It made him happy too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to this fic I now headcanon the braiding people's hair is Tommy's love language. If you're even slightly nice to him, you will be walking around with a tiny braid in your hair (or in Techno's case, fully braided)
> 
> more of my fics [here](https://sbiminustubbo.tumblr.com/post/641963273075523584/fanfic-masterlist)


End file.
